Five musicians from Louisville, Kentucky are determined to carve a unique path for themselves in the pop-rock genre. Their mission? To create an exceptional experience for their fans. Set On Famous' second new single, "Forever & Always" is just another exciting prelude to the start of that journey.
Many bands on the road to success have had to go back to the drawing board many times before fulfilling their vision of where they want to go musically. Brett Sharp (vocals), Joe Tegethoff (guitarist), Scott O’Donnell (vocals), Christian Morrison (guitarist), and Tony Johnson (drums) were five musicians from Louisville, Kentucky, who sought better for themselves. Brett, Joe, and Scott, longtime friends from a former band, had already experimented with various musical groups, but none seemed to meet the ideas they were seeking.
When the four of us got together to compose our second song, we didn't have any preconceived ideas. All we knew was that we wanted to make a "big" nearly anthem-like Pop Rock tune. We spent a lot of time on this one, even going back and having Scott and I rewrite and redo the vocals. We believe that “Forever & Always” brings much more to our audience than our first song. -Brett Sharp
Wanting to pave an entirely new path for themselves, the three members decided to create a one-of-a-kind experience in the realm of pop-rock, with two vocalists at the helm. Christian would subsequently complete this new vision as the band's guitarist, shortly followed by Tony. This would not only complete their vision of the band but also would mark the beginning of the release of their debut song, "Nothing Changes."
Built on a variety of genre inspirations ranging from pop-rock to hard-rock, as well as band acts such as Skillet and Falloutboy, Set on Famous is dedicated to creating contagious dynamism in their songs while also adding complexity and cyberpunk appeal to their soundscape. Set on Famous have capitalized on their strengths with their new track, "Forever & Always." Forever & Always,” a song about someone falling out of love with another one day, combines such a poignant experience with intense rhythm guitars, pulsating drums, catchy leads, and gripping dual vocalism to create an experience they hope will add a fresh sense of dimension to the genre.
What began the journey for Set On Famous? I know a lot of you belonged to other bands or projects before this at this point. Wanting to take this new path forward musically, how did this idea come to fruition?
Brett Sharp: Joe, one of my lifelong best friends, has been nagging me for years to form a band with him; after a previous band I was in split up in 2021, I finally agreed that we'd start a project together, compose a song, record it, and see where it goes from there. Once we had music that we were satisfied with, I asked a former bandmate of mine, Scott, if he'd like to sing for us, which he gladly agreed to, and then I found Christian via my work to play lead guitar. After the four of us released our debut song "Nothing Changes," I wanted someone else to compose and perform the drum parts for the band instead of me doing both drums and vocals, so Scott met Tony through the church they both attend, and we now have a complete band!
Instrumentally, you guys blend a myriad of influences from early pop-rock, alternative, to hard rock to musical influences from Skillet, Starset, to Falloutboy. How did you try to incorporate those influences in your new single, “Forever and Always?” How has this single been different from the last single, “Nothing Changes?” You can sense that there is some growth in your sound since you guys released that single back in April of 2023.
Brett Sharp: With "Forever & Always," we wanted to utilize Christians' lead guitar talents and ideas for the second song, as the first one was written by myself, Joe, and Scott and had a lot of rhythm guitar but not much lead guitar that stuck out.
We wanted to really broaden what we could accomplish by incorporating other guitarists' influences into their playing to really zero in on our overall sound and make it
larger When the four of us got together to compose our second song, we didn't have any preconceived ideas. All we knew was that we wanted to make a "big" nearly anthem-like Pop Rock tune. We spent a lot of time on this one, even going back and having Scott and I rewrite and redo the vocals. We believe that “Forever & Always” brings much more to our audience than our first song.
Cyberpunk also aesthetically plays a role in your writing, how does that play a role in the overall writing process?
Brett Sharp: We wanted the artwork and color design for the following song to retain the cyberpunk blue, pink, and purple colors from the previous song. With a metropolis in the background and a single individual looking from a distance. I'm not sure why we're staying with that design choice, other than that we really enjoy its overall look. It's beautiful to look at... Perhaps in the future, when we release more songs, we will combine all of the artworks to create a larger narrative. Who knows? Haha.
Lyrically, “Forever and Always” talks about the tough feelings of going through the journey of losing the love of someone who once deeply loved you before, then no longer does. When that kind of love dies between two people it’s a hard pain to go through. What made you guys want to tap into those themes for this new single?
Brett Sharp: When Scott and I come together to create vocals for whatever songs we have, we always write about our own life experiences, but not in a way that is obviously about myself or Scott. All of our songs are composed in a way that everybody who listens may relate to themselves. To share their own stories while listening.
"Forever & Always" is a song that talks about the experience of someone falling out of love with you. This is a feeling that many of us have gone through at some point in our lives. The reason why we chose to write about our personal experiences is because it is easier for us to write about events that have already happened, rather than creating a fictional story from scratch."
What is next for you guys after this?
Brett Sharp: Following this next one, we intend to transition from a studio band to a live band. We had never truly played together before. We want to strive towards that goal and begin doing live events. We also have a lot more songs in the works, which we want to release throughout 2024. Our key aims for this year are to begin playing live, potentially conduct some modest tours, and release four to five songs!
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